Moody's Sees Decline in Downgrades Despite Rocky Economy

By Collin Eaton

Moody's Investors Service is on track to downgrade fewer
colleges this year than it did in the previous two, yet increasing
debt loads and declining state and private support mean colleges
aren't off the hook.

So far this year, the company has downgraded the credit ratings
of 17 colleges, reflecting the uptick in negative activity since
the recession began in 2008.

Thirteen of the downgrades this year were of private
universities, such as DePauw, Drexel, and Wittenberg